Gay Man Sues After Being Denied Insurance Because of PrEP

Share

Mutual of Omaha Insurance Company is being sued for discrimination after it denied a gay man long-term care insurance because he is taking Truvada as PrEP, according to a press release from the Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), which filed the charges.

Truvada (made of the meds tenofovir and emtricitabine) is approved by the Food and Drug Administration as a pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP)—in other words, HIV-negative people take the daily pill to prevent contracting the virus.

According to the GLAD, John Doe, a 61-year-old Boston man, applied for long-term care insurance in November 2014; in February 2015 he received notice that he was denied because he was taking Truvada as PrEP. He appealed and was rejected.

GLAD filed a claim with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, stating that Mutual of Omaha illegally denied Doe access to a place of public accommodation based on sexual orientation and on disability.

“Mutual of Omaha’s denial is nonsensical,” said GLAD senior attorney Bennett Klein in the press release. “If our client were not taking Truvada, not protecting his health and the health of others, he would have received the insurance. We should be well beyond the days when insurers make decisions based on fear and stereotypes about HIV. The assumption is that gay male sexuality is inherently risky and unhealthy, and that’s just wrong.”